


is there room for one more son?

by pumpkinpaperweight



Series: never!tedros au [2]
Category: The School for Good and Evil - Soman Chainani
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, Mind Control Aftermath & Recovery, Strong Language, implied Kei/Rhian, never!tedros, sequel oneshot to "the otherness came", set abt six months after, title from "all these things that I've done" by the killers, which someone said should go on my never tedros playlist and they were EXTREMELY RIGHT
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:48:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28959729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pumpkinpaperweight/pseuds/pumpkinpaperweight
Summary: “Your birthright?” said Tedros sympathetically. “Yeah. Mine too. But you’re illegitimate, and I’m Evil, so they had a little competition to pick which of us should sit on the throne-- even though in ordinary circumstances, neither of us would have been allowed to. And I don’t know whether you remember, but you surrendered when you realised you had no claim.”“I wish I hadn’t.”“A shame, because it was the most noble thing you’ve ever done.”--sequel oneshot to 'the otherness came', set six months after. agatha, rhian and tedros grapple with the aftermath.
Relationships: Agatha/Tedros (The School for Good and Evil)
Series: never!tedros au [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2122596
Comments: 18
Kudos: 41





	is there room for one more son?

It was close to midnight when the King of Camelot knocked on the door of the Sato family’s Foxwood cottage. 

Bleary and fairly sure he was hallucinating from stress, Rhian staggered downstairs in his nightshirt and opened the door. 

He was not hallucinating.

“...you came without guards?”

“Are Kei’s family here? We need to speak in private.” said Tedros, as if he hadn’t heard the question. Rhian peered about, but sure enough, there was only one horse, cropping the grass next to Kei’s mother’s fig trees. 

“They’re visiting family in Ladelflop.” he said warily, not opening the door fully. “What’s so important?” He had had no contact with Tedros since the…  _ events  _ of six months ago, and had assumed it was going to remain that way. Apparently he’d been incorrect.

“Your brother’s magic.” 

Rhian stiffened. 

“...Ah.” he said. Reluctantly, he opened the door. “You should probably come in.” 

“Coffee? Tea?”

“Tea, no sugar.” said Tedros briskly, declining Rhian’s invitation to sit down and standing stiffly in the middle of the kitchen. “Well? What do you know about it?”

Clearly, he wasn’t much interested in pleasantries.

Rhian stared at him, setting the kettle on the stove. 

“...is this to do with Agatha?”

Tedros’s lips thinned, and Rhian wished he hadn’t asked. Clearly, it was.

These last six months-- and the restoration of his throne-- had clearly been kind to Tedros. He looked stronger, less hollow and hunted, and though he seemed uncomfortable standing in the tiny kitchen, it wasn’t the sort of uncomfortable that Rhian could prey on. One that was at his expense, not Tedros’s own; it was Kei’s family’s tiny kitchen with a low ceiling and draughty windows, after all. 

Kei’s cat, Hana, jumped onto the table to examine the newcomer. Tedros politely let her sniff his hand, and once he was deemed acceptable, scratched her ears. Rhian, who had seen him fighting with Agatha’s cat before, frowned. He was clearly a man reformed in more ways than just one. 

As he rifled around for tea leaves, he found he was actively trying not to make eye contact with Tedros. Rhian remembered vividly the first time he’d met him; the derision that he’d swallowed while pledging himself to such a pathetic specimen of a man, stood in his overlarge black cloak, covered in blood and dirt. Barely a man, let alone  _ King.  _ Now… well. Even if he wanted to-- and he  _ had  _ wanted to-- he wouldn’t be able to contest his claim. 

In the reflection of the mirror next to the door, he could see the double scabbard on Tedros’s belt, both Caliburn and the Akgul blade accounted for. Rhian could dismiss it as precautions for riding in the Woods alone… but he wasn’t so naïve as that. Whatever Tedros wanted, he clearly wasn’t leaving until he had it. 

“Is she unwell?” asked Rhian, handing Tedros his tea. He knew it was a bad idea to ask, but he was intensely curious. Although the papers had an irritating, weepy fascination with Agatha-- the  _ Maidenvale Mail  _ especially loved to rehash the sob story-- he’d not seen any suggestion that she was ailing. She’d been seen in public as recently as a few days ago. “The papers--”

He was interrupted.

“Rhian, what’s-- oh.” Kei stopped in the doorway, face closing off in a second. “King Tedros.”

“Apologies for the late hour,” said Tedros, not sounding sorry at all, “But this is important.”

Kei didn’t question what  _ this  _ was, even though he clearly wanted to know. Born and bred guard. He didn’t say anything, in fact; just came to stand stiffly next to Rhian, picking up the cat as he went.

“You said this was about Japeth.” prodded Rhian. “What we know about his magic.”

“Yes.” Tedros tapped his nails on the rim of the mug. “What Japeth did to Agatha… had he ever done it before? And if he had, to whom?”

So it  _ was  _ about Agatha. 

In normal circumstances, Rhian never would have even considered telling Tedros this. But he’d always felt guilty over what Japeth did to Agatha, and his role in it, so…

“Yes, he’d done it before.” said Rhian flatly. “He practiced it on classmates at Arbed. It was a cruel trick, but he was careful to never get caught. But he  _ learned _ to do it on me.”

He tried his best to sound level, not self-pitying. He suspected Tedros was going to get angry at him once he knew, so there was no point adding fuel to the fire--

“He did it to  _ you?”  _ said Tedros sharply, turning to give him his full attention.

“Who better to develop his many  _ skills _ on than his brother?” said Rhian dryly. 

A pause. 

“So,” said Tedros slowly. “You let him do it to Agatha because you were afraid that if you refused him, he’d target you instead?” 

Rhian paused, surprised. He’d expected the admonishment to take a different form--  _ you knew what it was like, and you let him do it anyway?,  _ or something of that ilk. Somehow, this stung more. It felt like Tedros had simply seen right through him, and Rhian had never allowed himself to be transparent. 

“I--” he looked away for a moment, then back at Tedros. “Yes. I suppose.” 

Tedros stared narrowly at him. 

“I see.”

“You believe me?” said Rhian cynically. He found it hard to believe that Tedros would have taken that at face value--

“Yes.” said Tedros simply. “When you’ve lied to me in the past, you looked me in the eye. And the fact you didn’t try to save Japeth suggests you didn’t want him alive.”

Such a searing assessment. Rhian had always been under the impression that whilst he was sucking up to Tedros as his perfect liege, Tedros had only been seeing what Rhian had wanted him to see. Apparently that wasn’t quite true. 

Maybe they would have made good brothers after all.

“...ah.”

“Get to the point.” snapped Kei, clearly needled by Tedros’s correct assessment of Rhian’s habits. “What do you want?”

“I can guess.” said Rhian tiredly. “Agatha has migraines, impulses to attack you that she kept quiet for too long until she panicked about it, random patches of poor balance and sudden mood swings. You think we’ll be able to do something about that.”

A pause. 

“Will you?” said Tedros, finally. He didn’t bother denying it. 

Rhian thought for a moment. 

“Perhaps.” he leant back against the counter. “First, you need to understand the nature of Japeth’s magic--”

“I’m not here for a magical theory lesson, Mistral.”

Rhian met Tedros’s gaze and knew the surname had been intended as an undercut. Rhian was not the one with the power, now. 

“Fine.” he stood up straight and began to pace. “I’ll lay it all out. You knew my mother, didn’t you?”

“In a way.”

“You were familiar with her magic.”

“I suppose so. The butterflies she made part of her clothes, which she could hear and see through.”

“Yes. Japeth’s was an exacerbated version of that. The butterflies were part of my mother’s clothes, but Japeth’s scims… he  _ was _ his scims, and his scims were him.” 

“Like a hivemind?” frowned Tedros. 

“Exactly like one.” agreed Rhian. “In essence, my brother was not quite a person, more a very tight concentration of magic.”

“So… if he wanted, he could have just become a bunch of scims, not a person?”

“I suppose so, but he liked having a human form.” shrugged Rhian. “It made him more powerful. My mother always said that since he was from such a volatile line of sorcerers, and we were a combination of two of the four great families, Sader and Mistral, it was no wonder he was so… interesting. Personally, I would have called him  _ fucked up, _ but I knew better than to goad him.”

Tedros put his mug down and folded his arms.

“So, when I killed him--”

“If you’re about to ask if he’s still alive, no. His human body was the concentration of his power, and you beheaded him with the poisoned blade. He isn’t powerful enough to be classed as  _ alive  _ anymore. The scims that comprised his human body will have been killed. But the few scims that were separate from his body when he was killed…”

“Were there any?”

“Yes.” said Kei promptly. “He’d sent scims to follow the King of Foxwood, for his  _ security,  _ and there were several on each of the doors. He also liked to have more throughout the Woods.”

“It’s possible they’re still alive.” said Rhian. “There’s no central command for them, so most likely they don’t pose a threat, but if his power is still out there… it’s no surprise Agatha is still acting oddly.”

“She was fine, to begin with.” frowned Tedros. “She’d always been uneasy about returning to the main city, but it was fine for at least a month before she started feeling unwell again--”

_ “Shit.”  _ blurted out Rhian, suddenly. 

_ “What?” _ snaps Tedros. 

Rhian swallowed. 

“I, forgot to-- ah-- hubristically, I may have...” he paused--

“We buried Japeth haphazardly outside of the castle walls, intending to burn him and rebury him in the Garden of Good and Evil once Rhian had won the Trial of Kings.” said Kei levelly. “So being in that close proximity to his unburned body may be having an adverse effect on the Queen.” 

He made it sound simply like a fact, with no consequence, which was what Rhian had been struggling with. Tedros’s eyes still narrowed, though. 

“Unburned?”

“What I told you about fire being the most effective way to kill the scims was true.” said Rhian. “Burning his body will destroy any lingering power.”

But Tedros was already dismissing him;

“Fine, whatever, I can do that when I get back.” he pointed at him. “Why don’t  _ you  _ act like Agatha? If he learned to do it on you?”

Rhian sighed.

“Japeth’s control was weaker when he was a child, and I was only ever under his influence for a few hours, at most. Agatha was controlled by multiple scims for several weeks, while Japeth was at his most powerful. I also had migraines and lingering impulses, but my mother managed to concoct a potion that mostly keeps them at bay.” 

He went to the cabinet and retrieved a small glass bottle, filled with luminous blue liquid. Tedros eyed it doubtfully.

“I don’t think she’s going to want to have anything that Evelyn Sader is involved with.”

“Well, she better get over it, because it works.” said Rhian, handing it to him. Tedros opened his mouth--

“I know you suspect it's poison, but there have been Wardwell Clan scouts keeping tabs on us for months.” snapped Rhian. “Call me what you want, Tedros, but I’m not a fool. If they see you leave with that-- and they  _ will--  _ and the next day one or both of you drops dead, Kei and I will be following you within a few hours. Frankly, I’m surprised we’re not dead already.”

Tedros looked at him.

“Oh.” he said, simply. Rhian scowled. Of course he didn’t care. This was clearly not going to be mentioned to Agatha, lest she called them off. 

Tedros picked up his mug and drained the rest of his tea. “Well, I’ll have Eris test it. I imagine she’ll be able to recreate it.”

_ Probably,  _ thought Rhian sourly. The Wardwells were irritatingly good at that sort of thing. Their enemies always dropped dead from poisonings that don’t look like poisonings. 

Tedros put the bottle in his cloak. 

“Anything else to tell me?”

“Only that I suggest hunting down and killing the remaining scims around the Woods.”

“Good idea.” said Tedros. “You two can come with me.”

“...what?” said Rhian. “No. I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“I’m not going to take you off into the woods and kill you.” sniffed Tedros, yanking his gloves on. “It’s a brief mission.”

“No.” repeated Rhian. 

“I wasn’t  _ asking.”  _ Tedros said softly. His voice was calm, but Rhian could see him reddening, and knew full well resisting anymore was a bad idea…

But he couldn’t help himself. 

“You’re ridiculous.” snapped Rhian, aware he was treading a dangerous path, but also not caring.

“Rhian--” began Kei, but Rhian ignored him;

“You’ve wanted nothing to do with us for the past six months, sending us into some shitty exile, but now that it suits you, you want us to go on some ridiculous quest with you?  _ Why--?” _

“Because you’ve somehow managed to forget that it’s _all_ _your_ _fault.”_ hissed Tedros. Rhian snapped his mouth shut. “And if it’s your fault, you can help fix it. It’s the least you can do, really. _Isn’t it?”_

Tedros waited for an objection. Rhian said nothing. Kei cradled the cat and stared at the floor. 

“Glad to see we’re in agreement. I will contact you about arrangements. Apologies for disturbing you.”

Tedros barged past them and disappeared in a whirl of black, banging the front door shut. Rhian stared after him, resentment roiling in his chest. 

A minute later, a horse brayed, hooves pounded on the cobbles, and he was gone. 

* * *

“We’re removing to Tintagel.” said Tedros, stopping on the forest track where he’d left Ravan and Beatrix. Taking anyone else to see Rhian could have ruined his chances of getting information, but he wasn’t stupid enough to come completely without backup. If he’d been gone for longer than three hours, they had been told to follow him. 

“Who is  _ we?”  _ drawled Ravan, snuffing the small fire out with a wave of his hand and scraping to his feet. 

“The court.”

“Ah.”

Beatrix pulled a face.

“Ugh, really?  _ Everyone?” _

“Japeth’s buried next to the palace, it’s having a bad effect on Agatha.”

“...ah.” Ravan stomped the ashes out and remounted his horse. “Well, shit.”

“One way of putting it.” muttered Tedros as Beatrix remounted on his other side. “At least we finished renovations.”

“ _ Just.  _ As in, last week.” muttered Ravan. “So don’t break anything.”

“Was that all you found out?” pushed Beatrix. 

“No.” Tedros set off back down the trail. “They told me how Japeth’s magic works, we need to exhume and burn his body to destroy the scims.” 

“...ew.” said Beatrix. 

“Fine.” said Ravan briskly. No doubt he’d seen similar or even worse at Evil. “What else?”

“Apparently Japeth learned to do it on Rhian, so he gave me a dubious potion that he claims helps with the side effects, but his mother developed it, so I don’t trust it. I’ll have Eris break it down and test it when we get back. She’ll still be up, she’s practically nocturnal.”

“He learned to do it on Rhian?” Ravan turned incredulously around in the saddle. 

“Spineless of him to let it happen to everyone else, I know.” muttered Tedros. “But I suppose he really wasn’t lying when he said he was afraid of Japeth.”

“So was everyone else, he wasn’t special.” snorted Beatrix. 

“So, potentially useful potion, removal to Tintagel, exhume and burn Japeth’s body.” listed Ravan briskly. “We can burn the body tonight, once we get back. Hand that potion over to Eris and fetch Agatha, she was going to stay up to draft those amendments--”

“Are we sure we ought to tell Agatha?” Beatrix frowned. “Won’t it make her feel worse?”

A pause.

“I don’t know.” Tedros admitted. 

“Might work as a placebo.” offered Ravan. “If she sees his body burn, it might help stop the impulses, since she knows for sure he’s dead and can’t control her.”

_ “Or,  _ if she finds out his body is still around and sees it again, she might feel decidedly worse.” Beatrix batted back. 

They turned to Tedros for the verdict. Tedros stared at them, not sure how to tell them that he had no idea what Agatha would want to do. The whole point was that she’d been avoiding him and clamming up about it. He’d barely managed to piece together what he’d told Rhian, and even then Rhian had done most of it for him. 

“...I guess we can give her the option?”

“That bad, huh.” said Ravan wryly. “Didn’t you tell her where we were going?”

Tedros shook his head, fiddling with Benedict’s reins. 

“No, she retired immediately after dinner, I didn’t get the chance.”

“I keep telling her not to avoid us, but she’s ignoring me.” muttered Beatrix. “Surely she must know she’s not actually going to act on anything.”

“Clearly she’s not sure.” said Ravan. Beatrix frowned.

“I swear it wasn’t this bad a few months ago.”

“It wasn’t.” agreed Ravan. “It’s coming up to a year since it happened, and she’s had longer to reflect on it, I guess. And if she’s been in proximity to Japeth’s body for that long…” he shrugged. “No wonder.”

Tedros sighed. 

“Well, we’ll go to Eris, tell her to pitch it to Agatha while we go and find the grave. She wasn’t in a good mood at dinner, but… worth a try.”

* * *

“Having a little bonfire, are we?”

“Oh.” said Beatrix. “Well, guess we should have relied on her gruesome sensibilities.”

All three of them turned to see Agatha stomping through the brambles towards them, still in her day dress and jewels. So she had pulled an all-nighter drafting the amendments, then. And behind her--

“Eris.” sighed Tedros. “I only told you to make the offer, not lead her directly here--”

“And she said yes, so I came with her.” said Eris coolly. “As I constantly remind you, boy, my loyalty is not to you. I admit though, I thought you’d be easier to spot. You look like a group of three Ravenbow grave robbers.”

“Can’t wear fancy clothes to dig up corpses.” said Agatha, coming to stand at the edge of the grave and peering down into it. “It might have exploded.”

Ravan and Tedros stopped digging and looked at each other. Even Eris looked wary.

_ “What?” _ said Beatrix. 

“I suppose you all grew up in fancy manors, didn’t you?” Agatha cracked her back extremely loudly. Everyone winced. “Not very acquainted with dead bodies.”

“Agatha, you are the exception, not the rule.” said Tedros, leaning on his shovel and squinting at her. He knew full well she was deliberately trying to creep them out in order to get even for being left out of proceedings. It was a first year habit she liked to resurrect when it suited her. “What do you mean, they  _ explode?”  _

“If you get buried in a lead lined coffin, the gases your body produces once you die build up and they can’t escape, so eventually if there’s enough of them you explode. It happened to the old mayor of Gavaldon at his funeral, when I was six.” Agatha went wandering over to ferret for blackberries in the brambles. “Core memory, that one. I asked my mother if  _ I’d  _ explode when I died.”

“Did she say yes?” anticipated Eris.

“She did say yes.” confirmed Agatha, coming back up with a ripped stocking and a fistful of blackberries. 

“Oh, she was just  _ waiting  _ for you to ask that.” grumbled Eris. “She used to make Ismene cry by telling her that the cat would eat her eyeballs when she died.” she turned her attention to the three digging. “Aren’t you done yet?”

“We found the coffin.” said Tedros, nudging it with his toe. “We just can’t get it out.”

“Use magic.” said Agatha, getting blackberry juice on her (red) dress. Tedros didn’t comment, knowing full well she’d just scour it out with magic and then get told off by the seamstresses. 

“None of us know any spells for  _ dig up a body _ .” pointed out Beatrix. 

“I do, but it needs part of the dead person, and we don’t have that.” muttered Ravan.

“Oh, well.” Agatha sat down at the base of a tree. “Guess you have to keep digging.”

“We would appreciate help.” said Beatrix thinly.

“Sadly, I am dressed inappropriately for digging.” said Agatha immediately. “You wouldn’t want me to get my dress dirty.” 

She wiped her purple hands on her knees. 

Everyone stared at her.

Tedros decided not to laugh, since Beatrix looked as if she was contemplating giving Agatha another concussion to rival the one from first year.

* * *

“Oh, Teddy,  _ ew--” _

“Agatha, do you still want that centerpiece?”

Half an hour later, Tedros held up a round, mouldering  _ something, _ covered in dirt and dried blood. Agatha eyed it with appraisal. 

“Mm. Bit stinky.”

“Yeah, not exactly embalmed--” Tedros threw it onto the pyre with a wet  _ thud.  _ Beatrix stared at the two of them, aghast. 

“You’re both animals.”

“As was earlier established, I grew up in a graveyard, o fair knight.” said Agatha, standing up and coming to lean on Tedros’s muddy shoulder. “I’m used to it. Sometimes, when there was a particularly bad mudslide on Graves Hill, the bodies of people who couldn’t afford a coffin came up to the surface and me and my mother had to rebury the--”

_ “STOP!” _

Agatha laughed, watching Ravan and Eris splashing pitch over the pyre. Tedros put his hand lightly on her back, not sure what to make of this sudden approach. 

“You’ll get mud on my dress.” said Agatha, apparently still committed to that excuse. 

“Because your dress isn’t already covered in dirt and blackberry juice?”

Agatha snorted, and shifted slightly. Tedros tensed, expecting her to move away, but she didn’t-- she dug in one of the ridiculously deep pockets she had the seamstresses add to her gowns and produced a handful of matches. 

“You  _ still  _ carry those everywhere?” said Beatrix incredulously. 

“Useful, aren’t they?” said Agatha, as Ravan and Eris returned. She stood on one leg--

“Please don’t tell me you can actually strike matches on the bottom of those horrible things.” sighed Beatrix. Agatha struck the match on the bottom of her clump, and it lit. 

“I thought that was an urban myth.” admitted Tedros, as Agatha threw the match onto the pyre and lit a second one. “We always tried it on our Everboy uniform boots and it didn’t work.”

“Learned it from her mother, no doubt.” muttered Eris, watching the third and fourth matches hit the pyre and ignite it. She raised her voice slightly. “We could just use magic, Agatha?”

“No.” said Agatha flatly. Five, six, seven. She got an eighth from her sleeve. Her face had changed since she’d moved away from them; any mirth had slipped out of her expression, replaced with something more savage. 

Tedros thought you could probably be forgiven for mistaking her for the Never. Cleverer people had. He decided not to say anything, and looked to Eris. 

“How did that potion seem?”

“Fine.” admitted Eris. “I was suspicious, but there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s quite complicated to make, and has a lot of niche ingredients, but I’ll write home for them.”

“You’re sure they’ll have them?”

“I’m certain. I’ve seen them all in our stores before, or my mother has traded for them. It’s complicated, but perfectly achievable. I gave her the first dose.”

“What? Eris--”

“I did as you asked and determined that it was safe, so I then gave it to her, as I assumed you would have done anyway.” said Eris crisply. “I don’t have to run jack shit past you, boy. You’re not  _ my  _ King.”

No, he wasn’t, as Eris had made quite clear by deliberately rejecting Tedros’s offer of a place in Agatha’s household. She claimed that she wasn’t interested in a  _ smarmy position _ , and was happy to just accompany the Queen as her aunt, but Tedros suspected it was more likely the Wardwells simply didn’t want to be beholden to anyone. He wouldn’t have been surprised if the looming matriarch of the family had directly commanded her to turn it down.

“Though I don’t think you answer to the King of Netherwood either, do you?” Tedros muttered.

“He thinks we do,” said Eris. “He thinks Mother is a very trusted advisor.”

_ “Thinks?” _

Eris smiled at him and said nothing. Tedros eyed her.

“I take that to mean that any negotiations with King Elias are actually just negotiations with Iphigenia Wardwell. How long has your family been using an elderly man as a glove puppet?”

“Since before your father’s time.” said Eris, going to stomp out the patch of grass which had set on fire. “Since he was young. He’s always been stupid. Don’t get it twisted, though, Mother usually lets him have his own decisions, she only gets involved if she doesn’t like what’s going on.”

“And how often is that?”

Eris did not reply. Tedros sighed. 

“Please don’t tell me Agatha is an elaborate plant for the devious Iphigenia to get a foothold in Camelot.”

“No, Callis was our plant to get a foothold in Camelot, Mother sent her to school with your parents on purpose.” said Eris. “It backfired when she told your father he was foolish over the gnome thing and he banned us from the kingdom.” she smiled blithely at him. “But now he’s rotting in the ground, his son is a Never, and Callis’s daughter is your Queen, so it didn’t work out so well for Arthur, did it?”

Tedros, although amused by the irony, was stuck on the first bit. 

“So she  _ did  _ know my father!” he said indignantly. “She lied to me about it, when I was in Gavaldon--”

“Yes, Callis was a wonderfully adept liar.” snorted Eris. “Got away with everything. Helped that she was Mother’s favourite.”

“She said I looked like him, and when I asked if she knew him, she just looked disdainful and pointed at the storybooks.”

Eris rolled her eyes. 

“Yeah, no. They were classmates, though I don’t think they were awfully fond of each other. Callis liked to wind up the Everboys, and they always fell for it, because she was gorgeous and she used it to lure them into traps and things. Usually she just liked to disparage Arthur, though. I have a lot of old letters where she bemoans how thickheaded he is.”

Tedros, who was thinking Callis sounded like a horrible combination of first year Agatha and Sophie, was distracted from saying so by the sound of the pyre collapsing; caving in in the middle and taking the remains with it, belching smoke and sparks into the sky. 

Agatha burst into cackles, and Tedros decided it might be best to leave her to it. 

* * *

Agatha had been sleeping in the Queen’s chambers, on the floor above Tedros’s, for the past two weeks. 

It could have been passed off as practicality, since they were both busy with the Hamelin alliance, and her office was part of that suite, but Tedros knew it wasn’t practicality. It was a rising reluctance to be alone with him, that had her cramming her hands in her pockets and avoiding making eye contact with him. Not that he was the sole problem, because there were plenty of problems that had nothing to do with him; Agatha cutting her own hair and refusing to let anyone touch her head, piercing her ears in multiple places and wearing a bizarre multitude of earrings, wincing or reacting when people called upon captains, frequently getting migraines and occasionally losing her balance. They’d hoped it would fade, but it hadn’t. Now he knew the reasoning behind it, Tedros was furious he hadn’t realised sooner. It hadn’t even occurred to him to wonder where Japeth’s body was buried, and it should have. (He’d deliberately given it a vicious kick when they put the body on the pyre, just for good measure.) Nor had he wondered whether any of Japeth’s power had lingered, and now he thought about it, there had been a few garbled reports from up north, about eels and snakes and…

Frowning, Tedros stood and went to rifle through the papers on his desk, but he found himself absently listening for movement from upstairs. He was tempted to stay up anyway, until he heard Agatha get back-- just to make sure she actually  _ did _ return, and didn’t stay outside until breakfast. The hinges on the doors up there needed oiling, and her footfalls were extremely distinctive, so he’d know when she--

Except, Tedros wasn’t listening for them on  _ this _ floor.  So when she opened the door to his room, he probably didn’t hide his surprise very well. 

“Oh--” he dropped all the papers in a messy heap on his desk. Some of them fell on the floor, and he kicked them under the table rather than pick them up. “Um. Hi.”

Agatha barged the door shut and eyed the files on the floor. 

“Are they not important?”

“No.” lied Tedros. 

“Hmm.” Agatha unlaced her clumps and kicked them off in random directions, shuffling in her stockings over to the mirror. “Little birdie told me we’re removing to Tintagel.”

“Was the birdie of the Thicket Tumble variety?” Tedros sat on the edge of their bed, uncertain whether it was a good idea to approach her or not.

“It may have been.” Agatha squinted at her reflection, pulling on one of her earrings. “Do we consider Tintagel a better scim-hunting base?”

“I just thought it might be preferable.” Tedros said, assuming that, between them, Ravan and Eris had told her pretty much everything. “Less… associations.”

He knew there was a question there, about why they hadn’t removed sooner, but he also knew the answer; that Agatha wouldn’t have heard of it, would have insisted that it was fine and that it wasn’t a problem. Even now, he wasn’t sure she’d be very impressed--

“Fine.” said Agatha-- it was said mildly enough, but Tedros sensed she was secretly pleased. “Can we leave Lord Horseface behind?”

“If my Queen commands it, I will come up with some kind of excuse.” Tedros squinted at her. “Are you sure that’s alright, though? Because--”

“It’s preferable to being here.” said Agatha firmly, cutting him off. “I was safe, there.”

Tedros didn’t say anything, worried he’d crossed a line. He watched her loosen the laces on the back of her overgown, scratching half-heartedly at the mud stains on it. 

“You want me to help with that?”

“No.” said Agatha abruptly. “No, it’s fine.”

“Ok.” Tedros mumbled. 

They fell into an uncomfortable silence. Tedros wasn’t sure when the last time they had been alone for this long was. A few weeks ago, probably. It had been easy for them to horse around in front of everyone else, with lots of people around and in the open air, but alone in the tower, they drew apart again; Agatha keeping her distance and Tedros not closing it, scared of overstepping. It hadn’t been this bad a few weeks ago. But that was why Tedros had gone to Foxwood after dinner, covered by the early October sundown.

He thought Agatha was looking at him in the mirror. He took his boots off for something to do, contemplated running a bath, decided he couldn’t be bothered and that 4am was too late--

Then Agatha had come to sit next to him. 

“Take my earrings out, won’t you?”

It was delivered so quietly he was sure for a second he’d misheard her.

“What?”

“My earrings. I was going to change them tomorrow.”

“I-- oh. Yeah, alright.”

She was wearing a lot, as usual. Heavy rubies on her lobes and a variety of smaller hoops higher up, on the helix. It was an incongruous combination, but it somehow worked, and Tedros had already noticed people mimicking it.

“Lady Kinney has started to copy you,” he told her, working the hook out. 

“Lady Kinney is an idiot.”

Tedros snorted, and even though she was mostly facing away, he saw Agatha’s mouth quirk. He put the ruby on the side table and carefully pushed her hair behind her ear, so he could get to the hoops higher up. The smell of smoke clung to her, and when she finally got the laces loosened and pushed her overgown off her shoulders, she knocked ash into her lap. The back of her neck, where it turned to her shoulder, was inflamed as usual. Tedros put his cold hand over it.

“I’m sorry.” he said.

“What? Did you rip my earlobe in half?” Agatha worked a few rings off her fingers and threw them onto the side table with metallic clatters. Only her engagement and wedding rings stayed on.

“Don’t purposely misunderstand me.” Tedros told her. “I should have come to tell you myself what we were doing.”

“Oh.” Agatha pulled her chemise further up her shoulders and scratched her rash. Tedros frowned.

“Don’t do that, you’ll make it bleed.”

Agatha ignored the reprimand. “I know why you didn’t. You don’t need a guilt complex about everything, Tedros. I made you dig a big hole and didn’t help, as penance.”

She pushed her overgown onto the floor and sat in her ragged black chemise, picking the skin around her nails. Tedros gently slapped her hands to stop her. 

“So you  _ did  _ know a spell to help?” he said. 

Agatha smiled at him and said nothing. Tedros scowled at her and she grinned wider.

They sat in a more comfortable silence for a few minutes. Tedros dropped the last few hoops onto the side with faint  _ pings _ and let her hair back into place again, smoothing it flat. His face was very close to her neck, her shoulder. Although she was facing away, her head was slightly inclined towards him. Neither of them made any attempt to move back.

“...I thought you didn’t let your maids touch your head, or put your earrings in.” he said quietly.

“I don’t.” said Agatha. 

A moment. Tedros leaned down and pressed his lips to her shoulder.

Agatha was still for a moment-- then shuffled around properly, to face him, grabbing his hands. “I took that potion. That Rhian gave you.”

“So Eris said. Maybe you should have waited for it to be tested a little more, but--”

“I didn’t want to wait.” said Agatha. “I want to stop thinking about it every day, to stop getting migraines. I want to stop having five maids following two inches behind me in case I fall down the stairs. I want to be able to sleep in the same bed as you without worrying about that slimy fucker commanding me to strangle you.”

They looked at each other for a moment.

“He’s dead.” said Tedros. “Rhian confirmed it.”

“I know.” Agatha said. She sighed. “I know. I spat on his ashes, just for good measure.”

Tedros considered her for a moment, trying to gauge her mood...

“I may have kicked his head.” he said. “Hard. On purpose.”

Agatha’s mouth quirked slightly. 

“Did it make a really horrible noise?”

“...if I say it squelched, will you do that thing where you laugh, get hiccups, then sound like you’re dying?”

“It  _ squelched? _ ” said Agatha gleefully.

“Why are you so  _ morbid?” _

* * *

“Pick me some earrings, tomorrow.” Agatha said into his collarbone, later. 

“Aren’t you supposed to be asleep?”

“Aren’t you?”

“Fine. What earrings do you want?”

“Not those ruby ones.” said Agatha. “I had to wear them to flatter the Duchess of Hamelin, because that’s her family’s stone, but I had a heart attack every time I saw myself because they looked like blood.”

“God.” muttered Tedros. “You’re having a great time, aren’t you?”

“Peachy, truly.” she paused. “You know what I realised, though?”

“What did you realise, sweet my love?”

“Don’t be a bastard.”

“I’m a Never.”

“Stop using that as an excuse, it’s unoriginal.” scowled Agatha. “Won’t tell you, now.”

“No-o, tell me--”

“Fine. I realised that what I said earlier, about thinking about it every day, wasn’t true.”

“Oh?”

“He didn’t cross my mind once at our wedding. Not once. All day.”

There were many things Tedros could have said, and frankly, he could have burst into tears then and there. But instead, all he did was clear his throat, and say;

“Is that because I wore another slit doublet? I knew I was distracting, but--  _ ow!  _ Don’t pinch me--  _ ow,  _ you’re a proper git you know that? I’m gonna pick you some  _ horrible  _ earrings--”

* * *

One advantage of court removal was that everyone was too busy to come and get them for breakfast. 

By 10, Agatha was still asleep, and Tedros was going through the files he’d been looking for last night. Sightings of _ black eels, snakes, _ or  _ slugs _ kept cropping up in the northern provinces, towards Tintagel and Foxwood, with one emphatic report of an “infestation” in an abandoned Foxwood house that the local council had half-heartedly sent to be ignored by the housing commission, but had been picked up by one of Ravan’s intelligence officers in the Foxwood court. Tactically, that made sense; Japeth would have sent scims for surveillance up there, and probably never retrieved them before he died. Still,  _ infestation _ was troubling. If they were all collecting in one place…

An envelope slipped out of the pile of papers and landed in his lap. Tedros picked it up, frowning. It was addressed to him, in a hand he didn’t recognise. 

Warily, he put it down and retrieved both a pair of warded gloves and a letter opener from his desk. There was nothing about it that suggested it was cursed, but it looked as if it had been slipped into the documents, not sent and vetted in the usual way, and it wouldn’t be the first time someone had had a crack at trying to off Camelot’s new Never King in the last six months. That honour went to the butler who’d been paid to try and stab him at an envoy dinner, and had been floored by Beatrix. He’d never revealed who’d sent him, but Ravan had said he suspected it was lower-level Ever nobility, possibly somewhere like Jaunt Jolie or Maidenvale. 

But as he opened it, Tedros found there was nothing particularly menacing about it. Just one sheet of paper, sealed with black wax. Never correspondence, then. He’d have suspected Sophie, but Sophie wrote with hot pink ink on black paper, _exclusively._ Plus, he’d had a letter from her yesterday, and there wasn’t that much to report from Evil, unless someone had blown up her swanky new dining hall already.

He unfolded it, and was surprised to find a relatively informal note, dated from yesterday.

_ Yesterday? _

Bewildered, Tedros moved his attention to the actual letter. 

_ Our respective intelligence networks clashed over this report, trying to retrieve it at the same time. We conceded that you could have it, as long as this letter was included and I took a copy of the information. When I first heard of it, I had my scouts investigate, and it is legitimate; this ‘abandoned house’ is crawling with the remaining scims. Much weakened, but not harmless. However, the report leaves out the fact that this house was listed for a good decade as the residence of an ‘Eve’ and her twin sons, and the house has been off limits and shunned by locals ever since. To avoid any rallying of the Snake’s power, I recommend some kind of ‘accident’ falls upon the house. Perhaps it was struck by lightning, and the old wood was rather flammable. My daughters report you to possess at least a basic level of intelligence, so I presume you catch my drift.  _

_ It has also come to my attention in the past few hours that you intend to take Rhian Mistral with you to investigate these claims. Ensure he witnesses this ‘accident’, or even takes part. I think we can agree that he needs to have all connections to his old life and ambitions severed.  _

_ I will write to my granddaughter in due course. _

_ I.W _

Iphigenia Wardwell. Tedros groaned and threw it down. Probably slipped into his notes by Eris. Was he to deal with Agatha’s imperious family forever? He’d never even met the woman; she’d abstained from attending the wedding with the rest of her family, though she’d deigned to send several elaborate presents. When asked, Eris and Ismene had cited her age, but Tedros was fairly sure Iphigenia was just interested in maintaining her shadowy presence that loomed over the Endless Woods and its proceedings. 

Well, at least she’d sharpened their focus a bit. Committing arson in Foxwood. Great. 

Sighing, Tedros stood to go and wash and dress. Last year, he’d have blanched at the idea of conspiring with a Wardwell to burn down someone’s house in another kingdom. 

Last year, that was. 

* * *

“Run me through what we’re meant to be doing at Tintagel.” said Agatha, still only half awake as Tedros laced up the back of her stay. 

“Will you actually commit any of it to memory?”

“I’m most attentive.” said Agatha, stifling a yawn. Despite the irony, Tedros had never yet known her to forget anything political, unless she forgot it on purpose because she didn’t want to do it. 

“Dovey and Sophie have agreed to meet with the Kingdom Council in a few weeks, regarding potential School reforms.” he told her. “We’ll go to Four Point from Tintagel again, there’s a meeting hall there.”

“What are we pitching?”

“We’re lobbying for a bigger percentage of Readers to be accepted--  _ accepted,  _ not kidnapped-- and for a third category of student to be introduced, non-descendant Woods kids. Better safety provision and less brutal lessons, and the relevant Kingdom can impose sanctions on the School if students are seriously injured or killed. Parents have been petitioning the Kingdom Council about that for years.”

“The governors are gonna love that.” snorted Agatha, dragging a severely crumpled pair of gloves out from under her vanity with her foot, and steaming the worst creases out with her fingerglow. “You know that someone’s going to bring up Camelot Beautiful, right?”

“Which is why I’m going to let you do the talking.” snorted Tedros. “I already told them they could take my diploma off me if they wanted, but they were all  _ ooh no, you completed your schooling in good faith,  _ so I gave up. Probably makes the Evers who live here less twitchy to know I did legitimately have a Good education. But I already pledged to pay double all of the money that went into Camelot Beautiful into the public sector, and went under a truth jinx in front of the council to prove I knew nothing about it, so what can they do?” He went over to poke through Agatha’s messy closet. “Is green okay for your overgown? It’s not a weird green. Dark green.”

“Sure. Don’t care.” said Agatha. She peered under the vanity. “Where’s my diadem?”

“How should I know?” 

“Maybe it’s upstairs…” 

“Your maids must hate you.” 

“They find my uselessness amusing.” Agatha let him help her into her overgown. “So, we’re basically implementing all of Rhian’s plans for the School?”

“Despite Rhian’s fat head and overblown sense of his own morals, he actually had some good ideas.” said Tedros. “Even if they were promised in bad faith. There’s a reason everyone was so convinced by him.”

“Speaking of Rhian,” said Agatha suddenly. “Why are we making him burn down his old house with us? I skimmed my grandmother’s letter.”

“Oh. I told him he and Kei had to come with us on our scim hunting trip.”

“What?” Agatha twisted to look at him, and Tedros realised Eris must not have relayed that detail. “Why?”

“Because Rhian tried to underhand me, and I got annoyed at him, so I tried to make him miserable.” admitted Tedros. “But it’s his fault, so he and Kei can come and fix it. I’m sick of cleaning up his mess.”

“Hm.” Agatha thought on this for a moment. “Well. On the way, I want you to explain to me exactly how Japeth’s magic works--”

“Worked.”

“Worked.” agreed Agatha. “But for now…” she turned and looked expectant. “Earrings?”

“Alright,  _ Sophie.” _ Tedros snorted, but he didn’t actually move, just dug in his pocket. “I was gonna give you these on your birthday, but…” he shrugged, and let the sentence hang. Agatha would know what he meant. They had things to celebrate now. 

He put two coiled silver dragons in her palm. Agatha snorted at the symbolism, but he saw her eyes light up.

“Ooh. How do those work?”

“Goes all the way over your ear. Tail at the lobe, the claws clip the helix.”

_ “Cool.”  _ Agatha went hustling over to the mirror to try, and Tedros noticed her kick a cloak on the way--

“Your diadem’s there.” he said. “Under that cloak.”

“Hmm?”

Tedros went to get it himself, wincing at how Agatha was ramming the earrings through the piercings with not much regard for personal harm.

“Hey, they’ve got little emeralds for eyes.” she noticed.

“That’s why I picked you green for your overgown, genius.”

“Oh, right--” Agatha turned and found herself face-to-face with him.

Tedros held up the silver diadem. “It was on the floor.”

“Ah.” Agatha reached for it, then seemed to change her mind, and dropped her arms. “Put it on for me?”

“I’m not your maid.” grumbled Tedros, but he did it anyway. If this was how she was going to combat it, he was happy to help. “You’re in a better mood.” he told her softly, dropping his hand briefly to touch her cheek as he stepped away. 

“I try.” Agatha mumbled. She ran her hands briefly down his arms, then squeezed his hands and smiled. “Do you think that potion will taste better if I down it all at once, like a shot?”

“...no.”

“You’re probably right. Still gonna try it, though.” 

And when Tedros laughed, Agatha leaned forwards and kissed him. 

* * *

“We were followed.” said Rhian as Tedros, Agatha and Beatrix approached them on the Foxwood border, two weeks later.

“And yet, disappointingly, you are not dead.” said Tedros. “Can’t be that sinister.”

Rhian coloured indignantly. Agatha snorted and turned it into an unconvincing sneeze.

“You spared my li--”

_ “Who  _ followed you?” interrupted Beatrix, hand drifting to her quiver. Kei indicated over his shoulder to a higher path visible on the cliff above, where a single rider idled. 

“Could just be a traveller.” said Tedros, squinting upwards.

“You have no regard for your own personal safety.” Beatrix told him. “They’re obviously looking at us.”

As she said it, the rider suddenly came to life-- they remounted, spurred their horse, and took off east, cloak snapping behind them--

“That’s a Wardwell scout.” said Ravan abruptly.

“Oh.” said Tedros. “Problem solved, gents. It’s your friend, Unnamed Wardwell Spy.”

Rhian glared at him. 

“What?” demanded Agatha. 

“Your terrifying mafia grandmother sent scouts to keep tabs on them.” said Tedros. “Forgot to tell you.” he added lamely. It was clearly a lie.

“Oh.” Agatha looked at Rhian and Kei, both of whom avoided her gaze. “Ok.”

More bloody-minded than he’d expected.

“Are you sure?” prodded Beatrix. Ravan nodded, pointing a crooked finger after the rider.

“See the way the cloak flares like bird wings when they ride?”

“Yes.” said Tedros and Beatrix.

“...no.” said Agatha.

Everyone looked at her.

“...It’s a cloak.” said Agatha. “Cloaks do that.” 

“Sometimes I wonder how Sophie hasn’t had a moment and murdered you over your complete lack of interest in fashion.” Beatrix told her.

“Me too, honestly.” Agatha returned her attention to Ravan. “Well, whatever. What’s the point of it?”

“Cut like that on purpose. Meant to represent the crest, the eagle.”

Agatha blinked, bewildered. 

“Our crest is the _eagle?_ Like, _The_ _Lion and the Snake_ eagle? Capital _E?”_

“Were you paying attention at  _ all  _ when your aunts discussed this at your wedding?” asked Ravan.

“No.” said Agatha truthfully. Tedros grinned behind his hand.

“Where do you think  _ they _ got the idea from?” sighed Ravan, indicating an uncomfortable Rhian and Kei. “Wardwells did it first.” 

“Huh. Why?”

“Wait, I remember now.” Tedros jumped in. “Alecto Wardwell, who was like… the founding mother, thought that since the Eagle got to choose between the Lion and the Snake, it was the Eagle, not either of the Kings, who had the real power. Right?”

Ravan looked relieved that someone else knew what he was talking about.

“Nice to know you listened to Merlin at least a little bit. Yes, no matter how powerful the Lion and the Snake thought they were, in the end they still had to convince the Eagle. Without the Eagle’s favour, they were nothing.”

“I thought the Eagle was meant to represent the favour of the public.” frowned Rhian. 

“The point of literature is that it can be interpreted in a variety of ways, not all of them favourable to you, Mistral.” yawned Ravan. “Shall we go and burn down your old house?”

* * *

The house Rhian and Japeth had been raised in was a squat old wooden structure, surrounded by dead grass and teetering trees.

“Where are you living now?” asked Agatha as they dismounted. Rhian kept his eyes downcast, and muttered something about  _ Kei’s family, highness. _

“Oh.” Agatha looked uncomfortable. “That’s… nice.” she added, unconvincingly. 

Tedros decided not to wind Rhian up by demanding why he didn’t call  _ him _ ‘highness’.

“Rhian and I will go in and start it from the inside.” he decided. “Keep watch out here, in case someone comes to investigate and we have to run for it.”

“Is that likely?” said Kei.

“Not really.” said Ravan. “From what I gathered, people avoid this house as much as possible. Think it's cursed, or haunted.”

Rhian’s jaw twitched slightly.

“Did your mother put any wards on the house?” Beatrix demanded of Rhian. 

“I imagine they will have either stopped when we left, or died with her.” said Rhian tensely. “But we ought to be careful.”

The front door was unlocked, but wedged firmly shut, the wood probably swollen. The hinges were broken, however, and to get in, they’d probably have to pull it right out of the frame. As they approached, though, a squeaking from close by became audible. 

“Mice?” posited Ravan.

“Not mice.” said Agatha and Rhian at the same time.

Beatrix and Tedros exchanged glances, and went to the front of the group. They pried daggers under the wood, edged it open just enough to get their hands under it, and heaved the door out of the frame, throwing it flat onto the grass--

Everyone lurched backwards. 

The underside of the door was writhing with a layer of scims, crawling over each other in a squirming skin of black sludge. 

Beatrix invoked one of Jaunt Jolie’s saints, slightly too loudly for such a late hour, but it was covered by the furious squealing of scims disturbed. Rhian’s face had frozen, and Kei had grabbed his arm. Tedros looked for Agatha-- 

Agatha grabbed him by the collar, yanked him back, and threw a lit match onto the door. She spat out an incantation, and with a  _ whumph,  _ the entire door ignited in violent green fire. The scims screamed, struggling to escape, but it was too late. When the fire went out, only charred black husks remained on the door, crumbling to ash.

Everyone was silent for a moment.

“At least you’re efficient.” said Beatrix weakly.

“So you  _ could  _ have used magic last night?” demanded Ravan. 

“Where’s the fun in that?” said Agatha hoarsely. She looked slightly unsteady. 

“Was that one of Callis’s spells?” said Tedros. “It looked like it.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I--” she listed slightly, and both Tedros and Beatrix went to grab her. “No, I’m fine, I’ll go and sit down-- you go in--”

Whether it was the energy it had taken to cast the spell, the amount of scims or both, she looked distinctly unhappy as Beatrix led her back to the horses. So Tedros was not in the best of moods when he retrieved the torches they’d prepared and turned to enter the house with Rhian.

There were scims everywhere; not as many as on the door, but small groups lurking in crevices, in gaps in the foundations, in the corners of rooms and clustering on the ceiling. 

“Why would they all return here?” frowned Tedros, gingerly climbing the rotting stairs and sending scims skittering. “You’d have thought they’d stay where they were.”

“Like I told you, they’re all Japeth, really.” said Rhian sourly. “They were born here.”

“Oh. Well.” Tedros eyed the shifting eels. “They’ll die here, too. Poetic.”

Rhian did not reply. 

“Anything important, upstairs?” asked Tedros. 

“Nothing I want.” said Rhian sullenly.

“We’ll start the fire up here, then.” said Tedros, emerging onto the landing. “What are these?”

He indicated a row of boxes shoved against the wall. 

“Mother kept things in them.” shrugged Rhian. “Probably empty.”

He went over to look through them as Tedros firmly shut the grimy windows. The less escapes for the scims, the better.

He turned and found Rhian stooped over one of the boxes, brow furrowed. 

“What’s that?”

“Not empty after all.” said Rhian quietly. “Clearly she wasn’t completely reliant on her magic.”

He reached into the largest of the boxes and pulled out a crossbow. A cheap one, basic, but sturdy. Tedros snorted at the sight of it. 

“What was she gonna do, bring down a few deer?”

Rhian checked the mechanisms. 

“It’s loaded.” he said. 

“Irresponsible, with young children around.” said Tedros. “Put it down, won’t you?”

Rhian did not put it down. He looked over his shoulder at him, turning slowly to face him full-on, the crossbow still held up in his arms.

And then Tedros saw he’d locked it. 

Silence. 

Tedros’s hands must have moved to his scabbards without him realising it, because Rhian hefted the crossbow slightly and he stopped. 

They both knew he didn’t have the reach to get to Rhian before he shot him. Oh, he should have seen this coming. The resentment. The mutinous silence. Why had he goaded him? Even declawed, a lion was still a lion. 

Except he hadn’t shot him yet.

“Do it.” Tedros said softly.

Rhian didn’t move. Tedros repeated it, louder;

_ “Do it.  _ You think you’ll live to see yourself replace me again?”

“I’m not so delusional as to think that.” said Rhian stiffly. “But I’d be putting Camelot into the hands of an 100% Good Queen. Eliminating the Evil influence. Like I always wanted to. King or not, I’ll have served the Kingdom. The greatest Ever Kingdom. I’ll have saved its legacy.”

“Agatha won’t stay in the role if I’m dead.” said Tedros. “She’s not dutiful like us, Rhian.” he paused. “Though I don’t really see  _ why _ you’re dutiful to Camelot. What’s it done for you?”

“They loved me once. They’ll love me again.”

“That’s not why.” said Tedros. 

“You don’t know anything about me.” snarled Rhian. 

“I know that you don’t know how to deal with the fact that your whole worldview and life plan were ruined when you found out the circumstances of your birth weren’t what you thought.” said Tedros. “So you’re just trying to carry on as if it didn’t happen. You can’t lie to everyone else about it anymore, but you can sure as hell lie to yourself.”

Rhian stared at him. Tedros grabbed the front of the crossbow and lifted it to his chest. 

“Go on, Rhian.” he said leisurely. “Shoot me. Leave my body in here and set the house on fire. You’ll die a horrific death at my witch-reared wife’s hands, and you’ll plunge Camelot into chaos again. You think someone Good is going to get onto the throne if you cause another succession crisis? It just invites the worst sort of Evil into the competition.”

“Like you.”

“No, git, not like me.” snapped Tedros, losing patience. “I’m Evil, but I’m not a particularly bad sort. Product of years of chivalry lessons. Opportunist power-hungry people like  _ you  _ and your brother.”

“It was my--” Rhian stopped, and the crossbow dipped slightly. 

“Your birthright?” said Tedros sympathetically. “Yeah. Mine too. But you’re illegitimate, and I’m Evil, so they had a little competition to pick which of us should sit on the throne-- even though in ordinary circumstances, neither of us would have been allowed to. And I don’t know whether you remember, but  _ you  _ surrendered when you realised you had no claim.”

“I wish I hadn’t.” 

“A shame, because it was the most noble thing you’ve ever done.” 

Rhian swallowed. He didn’t lower the crossbow.

“I’ve been a git to you, I know.” said Tedros tightly. “And although it’s partially because of all the things you did, it’s also because you remind me of myself.”

“I’m  _ nothing _ like you!”

“Course you are.” said Tedros. “Like I just said, the exact same thing happened to both of us.”

“We’re not the same!” hissed Rhian. “I could never be like you!”

“For someone so clever, you’re heavily misinterpreting me.” said Tedros dryly. “Not the same person, but the same betrayal. The same realisation Arthur, who we idolised and wanted to make proud by rebuilding his kingdom, was a paranoid old man who wouldn’t have looked at either of us twice in our current state.” 

“How can you say that? You’re his son!”

“I wish I wasn’t. And you wish you were.” Tedros lifted a shoulder. “But you know I’m right. We were used by our fathers. They kept secrets from us and led us blind into pursuing humiliation. That’s no one’s fault but theirs. But what  _ is  _ your fault is what you did in the pursuit.”

“I  _ know  _ what I did! I told you I was ashamed!” The crossbow was shaking in Rhian’s hands. “I don’t know what else you want me to admit!” 

“What about Kei?” said Tedros. “What would happen to him if you shot me?”

“Don’t talk about Kei.” snarled Rhian. Tedros ignored him. 

“He was right, you know. What he said to Sophie, about you getting obsessive--”

_ “I know what he said!”  _ barked Rhian, spittle flying. “I know! I heard it!  _ Twice!”  _

“Then you must know, now, that he was right.”

Rhian did not reply. 

“Did you ever tell him he was? Apologise for trusting Sophie over him? Or did you just go back to a tense sort of truce?”

Rhian’s jaw twitched, but he still made no attempt to reply.

“You need to acknowledge it.” said Tedros. “You can’t just try and pretend like it didn’t happen. You based your whole life around being Arthur’s heir and the future of Good. So did I. Neither of us are what he wanted. That’s on him. It doesn’t mean your whole life is worthless, you just--”

“Leave me alone, Tedros.” said Rhian hoarsely. All of the anger seemed to have leached out of him. “I didn’t ask for a lecture.”

“I’d have killed for one.” said Tedros.

They stood in silence for a moment. 

“Rhian--”

_ “I SAID ENOUGH!”  _ roared Rhian.

He fired. Tedros recoiled--

The bolt snapped past both of their faces and buried itself with a  _ thump  _ in the rotting ceiling.

Panting, Rhian dropped the crossbow on the dusty carpet and stared at him. Tedros stared back. His cheek was stinging, he realised. He touched his hand to his face, and it came away bloody. 

He hadn’t completely missed him, then. The bolt had grazed his face.

With a sneer, Tedros drew himself back up and flicked the blood at Rhian.

“You’re a lousy shot.” 

He left it up to Rhian to decide what he’d meant; whether he’d been expecting him to shoot him... or whether he’d been expecting him to miss properly. 

He turned and picked up the torches they’d set down at the top of the stairs. 

“Clearly you’ve no more to hear from me. Help me burn down your old house, or I’ll do it myself and lock you in.”

Rhian stood still, looking as if he’d barely heard him. Tedros scowled. 

“Hurry up.”

“I’ll tell Kei.” said Rhian. He came forward and took one of the torches from Tedros.

Tedros looked at him.

“Well.” he said. He lit his fingerglow and set fire to one of the torches, then tipped it forward to light Rhian’s. “That’s something.”

* * *

“What happened to your face?” demanded Agatha, the second Tedros and Rhian emerged, throwing their torches through the broken window into the sitting room.

Rhian tensed--

“Walked into a shelf.” said Tedros. 

Beatrix laughed at him, and Ravan rolled his eyes, but Agatha clearly didn’t buy it.

“Really? Because--”

Tedros pinched her and shot her a  _ later  _ look. Agatha frowned--

From the house erupted a furious squealing, and the six of them stared in morbid interest as scims came writhing out from the gaps in the foundations of the house, screeching and flailing as the flames leapt up the side of the house. 

“God, what a racket.” said Beatrix. “If the neighbours haven’t already noticed, they’re about to.”

“Yeah, we should probably leave.” said Ravan. “Not great form for us to be caught committing arson on a random Wednesday. Not before that summit.”

“State sanctioned arson, which means it’s demolition.”

“No, Tedros, it’s just arson, and you know it.”

Tedros ignored him and glanced to his left, catching Kei’s eye. He’d barely spoken to him-- all of his dealings had been with Rhian, since Rhian was the negotiator, but…

“I heard a rumour.” Kei said softly. “About that summit.”

“What was it?”

“That you were thinking of implementing some of the changes Rhian suggested. To the School.”

Tedros glanced at Rhian. He was standing very straight and very still, watching the house burn intently. His mouth was a hard line. He cut a very similar figure to Agatha, the night before.

Tedros turned back to Kei. 

“Yes.” he said. “Maybe they were suggested in bad faith, but they were good ideas. I think a lot of people would be pleased to see them brought in.”

“I see.” said Kei. “People won’t take issue with that?”

“They may.” said Tedros. “But not everyone. I can’t please everyone, all the time. I know that, now. But it will appease the people who still want Rhian, instead of me, and that’s important.”

Sophie had once said she thought Kei was equally as clever as Rhian, and at the time, Tedros hadn’t believed her. Now, he thought he did.

“And…” Tedros said slowly. “If he were to have any other ideas of that vein, I’d hear them. Not necessarily trust them, but I’d hear them. He said he still wanted to serve the Kingdom. If he were to write to me, I’d consider what he had to say. A few years down the line, I could potentially recommend him to the King of Foxwood as an advisor. I know he was popular, here. What do you think of that?”

Kei looked narrowly at him. 

“I think he would take a while to come around to that.”

“I asked what  _ you  _ thought.” said Tedros.

“I think you’re taking a great risk.” said Kei. “...and I also think it could work well.”

“Well, then.” Tedros turned back to the fire, tucking his hands in his pockets. “Suggest it to him.”

“Why don’t you?” said Kei. 

“I think he’d rather hear it from you.” Tedros said.

He’d never seen Kei smile, exactly-- he doubted he allowed himself to, often. But he thought the creases that appeared next to his eyes were as close as he got, when he was on guard like this. 

“Can we go home?” asked Agatha quietly from behind him. She’d slipped away from the rest of the group to stand by the horses, face tense. “It’s… loud.”

“Oh-- yeah, sorry. Let’s go. I think Eris will have finished recreating that potion by now.”

“She better have.” said Agatha tiredly. “I’m getting a migraine.”

Tedros squeezed her hand. 

“Beatrix can lead your horse, ride with me.”

“Yeah, fine--” Agatha kissed him and shambled off to go and find Beatrix. Tedros turned to Kei and Rhian. There were things he could have said to them, but…

“Goodnight, gentlemen.” he said. He looked at Rhian. “Think about what I told you.”

Rhian’s jaw twitched, but he didn’t necessarily look angry. More tense. 

“Goodnight.” he said. 

Tedros turned and left without another word. 

But on the return journey, as Agatha dozed against his back and Ravan and Beatrix argued over the finer points of Jaunt Jolie politics, Tedros looked up and saw the rider again, the Wardwell scout, in the trees to their right. 

Perhaps it was best to remain wary. At least for the moment. After all, Rhian had thought about killing him, the same way Tedros had thought of leaving him in the cave. But neither of them had found the resolve to do it. 

Tedros hadn’t thought Agatha was properly awake, but apparently she was, because she suddenly sat up and raised a hand to the scout. The rider saluted her and turned to ride west, back to Netherwood, to tell their meddling matriarch that they had done as she’d asked.

All old connections to Rhian’s ambitions effectively severed. But there could be new ones. Less dangerous ones. Tedros wasn’t about to let him get ahead of himself. He could smack him right back down if need be, and this way, he could keep an eye on him. But simmering resentment wasn’t ideal, either. So, a balance it was. 

Not that either of them were very good at striking balances. But he knew someone who was. 

“Agatha?”

“Hmm?”

“I’ve got an idea I want to run past you.”

**Author's Note:**

> (a stay is a kind of renaissance corset-like thingy btw I got too into googling shit as usual. you didn't actually need someone else to lace it for you but agatha is lowkey lazy and tedros is a simp so)  
> Tedros, in John Mulaney's voice: "I dare you to do it. I want you to do it. I want you to do it so I can stomp you with my hooves, I’m so fucking crazy."  
> this got so long hhhh, whoops. I don't like it nearly as much as the main TOC fic, tbh :( but it may grow on me. it was defo interesting to write tho, and I am fond of the tagatha and the rhian vs tedros lmao. plus more wardwells. hope you enjoyed! gonna focus on Secret Project and the next ros vs now lmao


End file.
